Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

Colonists arrive on Bayou Teche

When
1779 (spring)
Where
Bayou Teche, Spanish Louisiana
Part of
Founding of New Iberia by Malagueño Colonists

Bouligny led about 500 Malagueño colonists up Bayou Teche to establish New Iberia in spring 1779.

New Iberia dates its founding to the spring of 1779, when roughly 500 colonists from Spain, led by Lieutenant Colonel Don Francisco Bouligny, came up Bayou Teche and settled around what became known as Spanish Lake. One account of the settlement plan places the journey in April 1779, describing the colonists as primarily Malagueños along with some Isleños. The legacy date of 12 February 1779 is not confirmed by the supplied passages, so the founding is recorded at year precision.

Sources

  1. New Iberia, Louisiana Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
  2. Francisco Bouligny Wikipedia, revision of 2026-04-24

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.